1. Technical Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to sleep systems that provide variable control of the support and comfort characteristics of the sleep system. More particularly, these apparatuses and methods provide automatic adjustment of the support and comfort characteristics of a sleep system based on a person's body variances. These apparatuses and methods also provide manual adjustment of the support and comfort characteristics of the sleep system based on support and comfort levels that a person selects.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of different sleep systems are currently available. Such sleep systems may comprise all aspects of a bedding assembly including, but not limited to, mattresses, box springs, foundation units, bed frames, pillows, mattress pads, linens and, more generally, to any type of sleep product that influences a person's sleep. However, each respective sleep system may be suitable for some persons but not suitable for others persons. The characteristics of a suitable sleep system for a person depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the physical attributes of the person (e.g., weight, height, body dimensions, weight distribution, etc.), preferred sleeping positions (e.g., sleeping on back, side, front, etc.), sleeping habits and so on.
Two very different primary components of sleep systems affect a person's overall sleep experience: support and comfort. First, a sleep system delivers support to a person by holding the person in a proper postural alignment, while evenly redistributing the person's body weight across a wide area so as to relieve interface pressure. For example, a mattress may deliver support through the resistance provided by innersprings to the downward force applied due to the person's body weight.
Second, a sleep system delivers comfort to a person's body through the use of comfort materials layered on a top region of the sleep surface. For instance, by layering firming pads and harder, high density foam on top of the innersprings, a mattress can be manufactured to provide varying levels of hardness or firmness. On the other hand, by layering soft materials over the innersprings like convoluted foam, low density foam and/or fiber materials like wool, silk or cashmere, a mattress can be manufactured to provide varying levels of softness or a more plush feel.
The sleep system that is most suitable for a particular person is that sleep system which provides the best possible combination of comfort and support to the person. Further, suitable sleep systems will vary considerably based on a person's physical attributes, sleeping habits, etc.
The number of factors that influence the suitability of a sleep system for a person are vast and interrelated. Thus, the selection of a suitable sleep system can be a complicated and difficult process for a person. Further, the sleep system that a person selects for themselves based on what sleep system feels most appealing to the person during a showroom testing of the sleep system may not be the most suitable sleep system for the person. Rather, it may require several weeks of sleeping on a given sleep system for a person to determine the long-term suitability of the sleep system. However, prospective sleep system purchasers are generally limited to such brief showroom testing.
Apparatuses and methods for objectively evaluating a person on a sleep system so as to determine the optimal comfort and support characteristics for the person have been developed by the inventors of the present application, as set forth in a related Provisional Application entitled “Apparatus and Methods for Evaluating a Person on a Sleep System,” which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. The apparatuses and methods disclosed in the aforementioned related Provisional Application can be employed to (among other things) recommend which of the generic sleep systems that are commercially available will most closely provide the person with the optimal comfort and support characteristics that are determined for the person based on their individual characteristics. Thus, apparatuses and methods disclosed in the aforementioned related Provisional Application (among other things) assist a purchaser in determining the long-term suitability of a sleep system during a brief showroom setting.
However, conventionally, purchasers are typically limited to selecting one of the limited models of generic sleep systems that are commercially available. But, the limited number of generic sleep systems that are commercially available may not precisely provide the optimal comfort and support characteristics that are determined for the person according to the apparatuses and methods of the aforementioned related Provisional Application since generic sleep systems are not custom manufactured to the purchaser's individual characteristics.
Thus, there is a need for a sleep system that can be precisely varied to provide custom determined optimal comfort and support characteristics for a person based on that person's individual characteristics.
Additionally, during the course of a night, a person will experience numerous body variances. For example, among other body variances, the person will exhibit movement and the person's sleeping position will vary throughout the night. The person's heart rate, rate of breathing, state of sleep and sleep quality will also vary. As the person experiences such variances over the course of the night, the optimal sleep system support and comfort characteristics corresponding to the experienced variances will also vary.
However, the support and comfort characteristics of conventional mattresses (even adjustable mattresses) are fixed and do not vary automatically while a person sleeps. Thus, there is a need for a sleep system that can detect and analyze a person's body variances. There is also a need for a sleep system that can automatically adjust the support and comfort characteristics of the sleep system based on such body variances on an immediate basis.
It is also important to recognize that a person's physical attributes (e.g., weight, weight distribution, etc.) and sleeping habits may vary somewhat over time after the person purchases a particular sleep system. For example, the person may gain or loose substantial weight over time, or the person's preferred sleeping position may change. Consequently, the optimal sleep system support and comfort characteristics corresponding to the person's physical attributes may also vary over time. Thus, there is a need for a sleep system that can analyze such long-term variances and automatically adjust its support and comfort characteristics over time, on a weekly or nightly basis, for example.
Further, a person's support and comfort preferences may vary and, thus, there is a need for a sleep system which allows a person to manually adjust its support and comfort characteristics to the person's liking.
Conventional mattresses have failed to adequately address the above needs and other needs not explicitly mentioned above. For example, a pocketed coil type mattress designed to have an adjustable level of support is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,182 (hereinafter “the '182 patent), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The support level adjustment mechanism described regarding that conventional adjustable mattress uses several air bladders that are placed under individual pocketed coils of the mattress.
However, the mattress described in the '182 patent has numerous disadvantages. For example, although the conventional mattress described in the '182 patent can change the amount or level of support, it cannot not adjust for comfort.
Further, according to the mattress described in the '182 patent, each of the air bladders is of a width equal to one of the strings of springs. More particularly, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 of the '182 patent, the mattress described therein has a number of coil springs 34, each coil spring being contained within a fabric pocket 32. Each of a plurality of inflatable pneumatic members 50 are arranged underneath a respective row of the pocketed coil springs. The inflatable pneumatic members 50 are connected to an air pump 64 through pneumatic tubes 62 and 60. When the air pump 64 supplies air to the inflatable pneumatic members 50, the inflatable pneumatic members 50 expand. When air is released from the inflatable pneumatic members 50, the inflatable pneumatic members 50 contract.
In the mattress described in the '182 patent, each of the inflatable pneumatic members 50 is placed directly underneath a single row of pocketed coil springs, as clearly shown in FIG. 3 of the '182 patent. Thus, when a respective inflatable pneumatic member 50 is inflated so that it expands, the respective inflatable pneumatic member 50 operates to compress only the single row of pocketed coil springs that is located directly above it.
By compressing the pocketed coil springs, the pocketed coil springs provide firmer support in the specific area of the mattress where the single row of pocketed coil springs is located. When air is released from an inflatable pneumatic member 50, the inflatable pneumatic member 50 compresses, as shown, for example, in FIG. 6 of the '182 patent, by inflatable pneumatic member 50c. This allows the row of pocketed coil springs above the inflatable pneumatic member 50c to decompress, thereby providing less support in those areas of the mattress where the row of pocketed coil springs is located.
However, the mattress described in the '182 patent only provides an adjustable level of support. It does not allow for adjusting a degree of comfort for the person. Further, the mattress described in the '182 patent can only provide a minimal overall increase in support. For example, indentation load deflection tests performed on the mattress described in the '182 patent show an overall increase in support that is a fraction of the illustrative embodiments described herein. The mattress described in the '182 patent also does not automatically adjust the support and comfort characteristics of the sleep system based on the person's body variances.
Thus, there is a need for a sleep system having variable comfort characteristics in addition to an adjustable degree of support provided by the sleep system and for a sleep system that provides automatic adjustment, as described above. There is also a need for a sleep system in which the force applied by each inflatable member is dispersed among a plurality of rows of coils, rather than being limited to the single row of coils directly above it.